Overland Victoria University Short Story Prize Guidelines

Overland Victoria University Short Story Prize for New and Emerging Writers

Entry conditions

First prize: $6000

Two prizes for runners-up: $1000 each

Winners will be announced in Overland 232, spring 2018.

This is a prize for original pieces of short fiction written in English, up to 3000 words in length.

Stories must be unpublished (including online) and not under consideration by other publishers.

Stories that have won or are under consideration in other competitions are not eligible.

The prize is for new and emerging writers. Entrants are eligible only if they have not, by the close of the competition, published more than one single-authored print book (in any genre or form) via a commercial publisher with effective national distribution – that is, distribution in all states. Writers who have published one book, or in multi-authored works, in self-published books or in exclusively electronic form are still eligible.

Entrants must be citizens of Australia or New Zealand or have permanent resident status in Australia or New Zealand.

Submissions will be processed electronically. Stories should be formatted at 1.5 line spacing and a minimum of 12 point font size.

The competition will be judged anonymously. The author’s name must not appear on the manuscript or else the story will be disqualified.

Multiple entries are acceptable, although each must be entered into the submission system separately and accompanied by the relevant fee.

Students currently enrolled in or staff who work at Victoria University may enter free of charge by including their student or staff number with their entry. Otherwise, each entry must be accompanied by a fee of $20 or $12 for Overland subscribers.

The winning entries will be published in Overland. Other entries may be considered for publication.

The closing date is 6 pm, Monday 11 June 2018. Late entries will not be accepted.

The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.